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> Math is a problem for middle school teachers because they often don't understand algebra, Thank you for saying this. I am/was a high school math teacher and

> Math is a problem for middle school teachers because they often don't understand algebra, Thank you for saying this. I am/was a high school math teacher and this was always the biggest problem when we got students in. The teachers at lower levels just don't understand it well enough to teach it. And, sadly, the same can even be said to be true for some of my coworkers. Our calculus teacher hasn't retired yet because there's nobody she trusts enough in the math department to understand pre-cal/calculus well enough to teach it (I'm on a leave of absence and have switched to the science department, though I've been asked by her and admin to teach those if I return). To me, common core math makes perfect sense. It's how I do math in my head. But it's also because I feel like I understand math. If I'm subtracting 26 from something, I'm going to subtract 30 and add back 4. It's just quicker and simpler. That's what I've seen parents struggling with, and even teachers struggle with it too! Because they don't get how numbers work. It's really frustrating and harms the kids. I wish I could overhaul how elementary school teachers are trained as in my state they're not even required to do well in math, or take any upper level math courses, before teaching math.

julienb_sea 5y ago
This is a huge problem. I have friends who are teachers and have never taken anything past trig at a high school level, and certainly have no understanding of calculus. I think this results in a fundamental understanding gap, since the main application for algebra is really cemented in higher math (calculus).
- dorchadas 5y ago
  I sadly don't know how to fix it without reworking the entire teacher education system, sadly, but I do believe it's the problem affecting primary schools especially. How many times are you taught to read and the 'importance' of reading by a teacher who doesn't like to read themselves? Or 'science' by a teacher who has no grasp of what science is and just reads the slides (I distinctly remember having to correct my 5th grade teacher becasue the notes she used were so old it said Saturn was the only planet with rings...I was that kid, but at least it was after class!). We need teachers who have trained in those areas, and then wanted to become teachers. And it needs to go all the way up through middle and high schools, but I truly think the focus should be on primary first. It's why we get so many kids who don't understand multiplication when they get to high school, let alone division -- their teachers don't either and they just give them calculators at a young age! And it all boils down to how teachers themselves are trained. Back to math at the school I taught at, there are two there who understand it. Funnily enough, they both came out of retirement to teach again (one has been doing it for 15 years, and the other just retired from her VP job a few years ago), and they're related. The older one married the younger one's uncle. It's funny how it stays in the family. The younger one's dad was also a math/chem/physics teacher, and was an amazing teacher until he just got too old. They were the only teachers I know or had at that school when I was there who truly knew math, and it showed in how they taught and the general outcomes of their students -- A "C" student in the accelerated algebra II class made an easy "A" on college algebra when they got there two years later, simply because it had been imparted to them that well.
- dekervin 5y ago
  The practical result is trauma (about doing math ) passed from generation to generation to everyone involved teachers, parents, students...
YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
>> That's what I've seen parents struggling with, and even teachers struggle with it too! Because they don't get how numbers work. Is that the reason? Or because they've been told to "do it the right way"?
- dorchadas 5y ago
  I'd argue it is the reason. I know parents who've had no problem helping their kids with the "right way/new math". But it's because the parents knew numbers, and realized that taking away 20 and adding 3 is the same as taking away 17. The number of teachers I've met who "know" it but don't truly grok it is way too high.

julienb_sea 5y ago

This is a huge problem. I have friends who are teachers and have never taken anything past trig at a high school level, and certainly have no understanding of calculus. I think this results in a fundamental understanding gap, since the main application for algebra is really cemented in higher math (calculus).

dorchadas 5y ago
I sadly don't know how to fix it without reworking the entire teacher education system, sadly, but I do believe it's the problem affecting primary schools especially. How many times are you taught to read and the 'importance' of reading by a teacher who doesn't like to read themselves? Or 'science' by a teacher who has no grasp of what science is and just reads the slides (I distinctly remember having to correct my 5th grade teacher becasue the notes she used were so old it said Saturn was the only planet with rings...I was that kid, but at least it was after class!). We need teachers who have trained in those areas, and then wanted to become teachers. And it needs to go all the way up through middle and high schools, but I truly think the focus should be on primary first. It's why we get so many kids who don't understand multiplication when they get to high school, let alone division -- their teachers don't either and they just give them calculators at a young age! And it all boils down to how teachers themselves are trained. Back to math at the school I taught at, there are two there who understand it. Funnily enough, they both came out of retirement to teach again (one has been doing it for 15 years, and the other just retired from her VP job a few years ago), and they're related. The older one married the younger one's uncle. It's funny how it stays in the family. The younger one's dad was also a math/chem/physics teacher, and was an amazing teacher until he just got too old. They were the only teachers I know or had at that school when I was there who truly knew math, and it showed in how they taught and the general outcomes of their students -- A "C" student in the accelerated algebra II class made an easy "A" on college algebra when they got there two years later, simply because it had been imparted to them that well.
dekervin 5y ago
The practical result is trauma (about doing math ) passed from generation to generation to everyone involved teachers, parents, students...

YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago

>> That's what I've seen parents struggling with, and even teachers struggle with it too! Because they don't get how numbers work. Is that the reason? Or because they've been told to "do it the right way"?

dorchadas 5y ago
I'd argue it is the reason. I know parents who've had no problem helping their kids with the "right way/new math". But it's because the parents knew numbers, and realized that taking away 20 and adding 3 is the same as taking away 17. The number of teachers I've met who "know" it but don't truly grok it is way too high.